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February 17, 2009
rental
I have a 1400 square foot duplex garden apartment in a 2 family house on 6th street between 5th and 6th Avenues in Park SLope. The house is a little narrower than most. It is not newly renovated but it is in good condition with new appliances and exclusive use of basement and garden . Can someone tell me what the rental market is nowadays for this kind of apartment. A range would be very helpful.
Comments
How many beds? How many baths? How wide exactly? How deep is the house and how deep is the lot (ie how much garden)?
If this is a 3-bed, 2-bath (which I would expect for a garden duplex) I would say $3750 to $4000 in the current market. Would have been much more a year ago.
Posted by: lechacal at February 17, 2009 4:34 PM
Yeah price is about right lechacal can I have some of what you are smoking. $3750 for a 3 bedroom means you are putting 6+ people in the apartment. Those days are over. People are losing jobs and leaving the city. P.S. I hope you are not counting the living room as a bedroom.
Posted by: hannible at February 17, 2009 7:30 PM
IN answer to your questions, Lechacal, there are 2 huge bedrooms (both living room size) but only one bathroom. Garden is small-do not have exact measurements but it has a small patio and also a yard with trees and places to grow flowers and vegetables.
Posted by: momolito at February 17, 2009 10:46 PM
Good place to look is craigslist for comps. Or at the windows of local realtors. I think example given was about 1k too high.
Posted by: Putnamdenizen at February 18, 2009 10:21 AM
momlito - you need to give some more information. I assume its garden level and parlour level, right? What is the layout? How big is the living room and dining space? Size and condition of kitchen? If nice sized, then you can get $2700-$3000. Though I would take less in this economy - whats most important is that you get financially secure, employed tenants who you are confident will pay their rent. Plenty of people are having tough times paying their high rents. My neighbor's garden tenant asked for two extensions - apparently she was laid off, and has other bills. My friend just wrote his landlord asking for a rent reduction. Advice: Dont use a broker, it will scare off many prospective tenants in this market. Dont overprice, it will scare off most tenant. Ask for credit report, letter of employment and if you want to be really comfortable, ask for a bank account statement proving they can pay rent for the next 12 months (i.e. over $40K in savings). You could even agree to lower the rent if someone agreed to pay 4-6 months (or more) up front. Remember, when the economy picks up, you can increase the rent. And use common sense - two 26-year old magazine editors (my neighbor's tenants) arent a good bet for tenenats when magazines are laying off people left and right.....
Posted by: saminthehood at February 18, 2009 10:47 AM
Momolito: If this is a 2-bed with only 1 bath, I revise my estimate to agree with saminthehood's $2,700 to $3,000.
Posted by: lechacal at February 18, 2009 11:14 AM
quote:
Ask for credit report, letter of employment and if you want to be really comfortable, ask for a bank account statement proving they can pay rent for the next 12 months (i.e. over $40K in savings
that is just beyond F'ed up.
*r*
Posted by: PitbullNYC at February 18, 2009 11:30 AM
I am a broker ( please, no hate) and owner. I just rented a lower duplex on 6th avenue btwn 3/4th street ( 2br/1ba). the unit is furnished and the owner received $4100/month included utilities. perhaps since this unit is furnished it is not a true comparison, however there are very few furnished options in the slope. I do have another friend who was able to rent a mint bottom duplex near sackett and 5th ave for $5000/month ( 2br/ 2ba) but that was 1 year ago ( and a much stronger market). best of luck.
Posted by: owner12 at February 18, 2009 11:33 AM
owner12 -- For this apartment (2 bed 1 bath) nothing even close to $4000 will rent. Furnished is no comparison. I would guess it takes 4 beds to get $5000 these days.
I rented my current place in August/September 2007, which as far as I know was the tightest the market has ever been. I recall some 3 beds were asking $5000. I think places that were asking $5000 back then are asking $4000 or less (and probably accepting even less).
Also, with apologies to your profession, the days of paying 12-15% annual rent for a broker's fee are over. Unless of course the owner wants to pay.
Posted by: lechacal at February 18, 2009 12:27 PM
If someone paid $4000 for 2 br/1 bath in todays market, then good luck to them. That apartment must have been sweet, with a nice outdoor space. who knows, maybe there are people with cash who arent concerned and will go for it. To be honest I would have to see the apartment - maybe its gorgeous, in which case I would go up to $3400 or so. If it has a weird layout with few closets and funky kitchen, then Id go lower.
And to *r* - the economy is all F-ed up. As a landlord, I would not want to hold the bag for someone who cannot pay the rent. There are enough people with $40k in cash who can guaranty the rent for a year or so i would say its not so stupid.
Posted by: saminthehood at February 18, 2009 1:26 PM
Also, you did state your place is "narrower than most" which leads me to believe it has some funky room dimensions, which undercuts the total square footage. i would ignore owner12 advice - clearly the duplex he rented out had a really nice layout and renovation.
Posted by: saminthehood at February 18, 2009 1:29 PM
Hannible, that's nothing. You should see the apartments on Park Ave. Everyone takes turns sleeping in the bunkbeds, the rent is so high.
Posted by: mopar at February 18, 2009 6:28 PM
Well Park Ave is Park Ave. I see plenty of warm bunk beddinf here in Brooklyn too. But you know what homeowners making all this dough better be paying their fair share of taxes. I heard in another forum that homeowners were whinning that mean old Mayor Bloomberg raised their assesment taxes. Boh hoo I want a million dollar home but I don't want to pay taxes. You know what go rent.
Posted by: hannible at February 20, 2009 8:07 AM
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